Stuffed doll and coin bank

ABSTRACT

A DOLL STUFFED WITH REALTIVELY STIFF FIBERS OR FILAMENTS FORMED INTO MESH OR NET LIKE MATERIAL THAT IS YIELDING BUT ALSO HAS SOME STIFFNESS. TWO LAYERS OF THE NET OR MESH FORMED INTO A TUBE WILL HOLD AN EXTREMITY OF THE DOLL IN SHAPE WHILE LEAVING THE CENTER OF THE LIMB OPEN TO SERVE AS A BANK.

[111 3,831,313 [45] Aug. 27, 1974 United States Patent Cic'hy [54] STUFFED DOLL AND COIN BANK FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 407,l76 3/1934 Great Britain....

[76] Inventor: Helen J. Cichy, 2616 Huntington Ave.. Minneapolis. Minn. 55416 22 Filed: Apr. 13, 1972 OTHER lUBUCATIONS Ladies Home Journal, issue of Nov., 1967. page 182.

Appl. N0.: 243,566

Primary Examiner-F. Barry Shay [52] U.S. 46/2, 46/116, 46/158 Attorney, Agent, or FirmL. A. MacEachron [57] ABSTRACT A doll stuffed with realtively stiff fibers or filaments formed into mesh or net like material that is yielding but also has some stiffness. Two layers of the net or [51] Int. A63h 3/02 [58] Field of Search.................... 46/2, 3. 4. I16, ll

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS mesh formed into a tube will hold an extremity of the doll in shape while leaving the center of the limb open to serve as a bank.

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PIUENTEB 3.881.313

1 STUFFED DOLL AND COIN BANK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field Dolls, stuffed and combined with banks, coin.

2. The Prior art There is a United States patent which discloses the use of synthetic fibers in stuffing dolls. The disclosure is of fibers cut into short lengths which is entirely contrary to the disclosure of this application. Other materials that have been used to stuff animal or human shaped dolls are kapok, cotton, straw and excelsior. In every case, a rupture of the outer covering or skin of the doll leads to the escape of stuffing. Some people find the resulting mess distressing.

A further problem that prior stuffing material does not avoid is that of the compacting of the stuffing material into only a part of the doll. This is particularly true ofsmall pieces of foam or sponge like rubber or plastic stuffing. When this happens, a stuffed doll is no longer very appealing.

Coin banks of prior construction known to this inventor have been made of unyielding material such as metal or pottery. Neither of these materials makes an appealing toy or doll in the sense of being soft and cuddly. Conversely. the usual stuffed doll is not a good vehicle for a coin bank. Applicant is aware that hollow metal or other material containers have been placed inside of stuffed dolls for the purpose of housing mechanisms of various kinds, but this does not seem to teach the concept of using a stuffed doll for a coin bank. Furthermore, none of these disclosures would lend themselves to having easy access to the internal containers while keeping the exterior of the doll supple and soft. That is exactly the type of coin bank structure that can be achieved with the improved stuffing material of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is a toy doll that is stuffed with synthetic fiber that has been formedinto a net or mesh. The artificial fibers or filaments used are such that the resulting net or mesh is rather stiff and definitely not flacid. Actually. the fibers would not have to be synthetic if there were natural fibers that I do not know about which would have the same characteristic stiffness. The critical concept is the forming of relatively stiff and resilient filaments into mesh or net material. The combination of the stiffness or resilience of the filaments allows the net or mesh to yield when squeezed and resume its previous shape when released. This is particularly true when the net or mesh is formed into a ball like configuration. In fact, two layers of the meshformed or made into a tube offers sufficient resistance to crushing that it will hold the extremity of a moderate size stuffed doll in an expanded condition. This tubing will keep arms and legs nicely stuffed yet hollow. The stuffed but hollow extremities can be used for a coin bank. This is achieved without sacrificing any of the characteristic softness of other stuffed dolls. A leg is particularly good in that a slot can be made at the point ofjoinder of the leg and body which makes the opening rather obscure. A plug is used to close the lower end of the leg to make removal of coins easy when appropriate. All of this structure will be described in detail in connection with the following drawings which are briefly described as follows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the invention taken on the line and in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line and in the direction of the arrows 33 in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Refering to FIG.1, the invention is shown embodied in a doll in the shape of two-legged two-armed pig so that instead of having a body 10 intended to be in a horizontal position with four legs as is usual for pigs, this one is expected to be vertical. Number 11 and 12 identify what we shall refer to as legs and 14 and 15 are arms. The head is 16. The manner of assembling the exterior or skin 17 of the doll is or may be conventional.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the head 16 is seen to be filled with mesh 18 which may be formed into balls and is the main material holding the head expanded. Between the skin 17 and the mesh 18 is a layer of padding as shown at 19. The layer of padding will give the doll a particularly soft feel that the plush skin 17 alone probably will not afford if placed directly over the mesh 18. Padding 19 may be felt or some similar material.

FIG. 3 shows the leg construction. There leg 14 is seen to have the skin 17 and padding 19 described above. The synthetic filament or fiber stuffing is formed into a mesh tube 20 instead of merely bunched up as used in the head and other parts of the doll. As shown in FIG. 3, the tube 20 is doubled back upon itself for more resistance to collapse. At the lower end of the leg is a moulded foot member 21. It is secured to the tube of mesh 20 in any suitable way as by the elastic 22. The foot has an opening in it which is closed with a plug 24. The plug may be obscured from view by a removable shoe 25. In the foot are shown some coins 26.

At the upper end of the leg 14, the tube is provided with the collar 27. The collar serves as a means for se curing the otherwise raw edges of the materials at the upper end of the tube 20 and leg 14. The leg is then only partially secured to the body 10. The structure of the legs 14 and 15 is the same. The partial securing of the legs to the body leaves a point ofingress for coins 26 but which is largely obscured by the overhang of the body 10.

OPERATIVE FEATURES The title operative features was adopted for this section, because little, if any, explanation is needed as to how a stuffed doll operates. It is important, however, to make clear the advantages of the fiber or filament formed into mesh or net. The use of the fiber or filament net or mesh makes the stuffing of the doll very stable relative to its skin. It will not pack down as most stuffing will. Furthermore. the outer covering or skin must be ruptured in a very major way before the stuffing will escape. A slight break is usually discovered and repaired before it reaches proportions that permit escape of the mesh even if it is formed into bunches of less size than the entire inside of some portion of the doll.

The use of the coin bank is very simple. Coins are forced through the slot at the top of the leg resulting from only paritally securing the top of leg 14 to body 10. The coins pass through collar 27 and tube to foot 21. They are purposefully removed by removing shoe and the plug 24 which is then revealed.

This completes the disclosure of my invention and I now define my invention in the following claims as required by law.

I claim:

1. A soft stuffed toy in the form of a doll of moderate size, said doll having a body, head and extermities, said body, head and extermities each comprising an external skin, a layer of padding underlying said skin, and a stuffing of stiff fiber material that has been formed into a net or mesh, said net or mesh being stiff and definitely not flaccid so as to yield when squeezed and resume its previous shape when released, the net or mesh stuffing in at least one of said extremities consisting essentially of means in the form of a hollow tube with open ends having two layers of said net or mesh and offering sufficient resistance to crushing that it will hold said one extremity in an expanded condition while maintaining the interior hollow, means at the joinder of said one extremity with the body for forming an entrance sufficiently large to pass coins from outside said doll into said tube interior and means at the other end of said one extremity including an opening and a removable closure therefor for removing coins from said tube. 

